Class 9 Science has been rebuilt from the ground up for 2026–27. NCERT published an entirely new textbook — Exploration: Textbook of Science for Grade 9 — in April 2026, replacing the combined Physics-Chemistry-Biology book students have used for years. This isn't a light revision. The old textbook is gone, several familiar chapters have been removed entirely, and for the first time at this grade level, Earth Science is now part of the core syllabus alongside Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.
This guide is built around Exploration's confirmed, complete 13-chapter structure — verified consistently across multiple independent sources — along with what's been removed, the new optional Advanced Level track, and a discipline-by-discipline strategy. Where the exact marks weightage isn't yet consistently confirmed across reliable sources, this guide says so directly rather than presenting an invented number.
The Complete, Confirmed 13-Chapter List
Exploration integrates four disciplines across 13 chapters — Biology opens the book, Physics and Chemistry follow, and Earth Science closes it as a genuinely new addition:
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Earth Science
Exploration: Entering the World of Secondary Science
Introductory
Cell: The Building Block of Life
Biology
Tissues in Action
Biology
Describing Motion Around Us
Physics
Exploring Mixtures and their Separation
Chemistry
How Forces Affect Motion
Physics
Work, Energy, and Simple Machines
Physics
Journey Inside the Atom
Chemistry
Atomic Foundations of Matter
Chemistry
Sound Waves: Characteristics and Applications
Physics
Reproduction: How Life Continues
Biology
Patterns in Life: Diversity and Classification
Biology
Earth as a System: Energy, Matter, and Life
Earth Science
What's Been Removed — Stop Studying These
⚠️ Removed from the current Class 9 Science syllabus
- Diversity in Living Organisms (as previously structured) — though a related, reconceived chapter on classification, Patterns in Life: Diversity and Classification, does exist in the new book
- Natural Resources
- Why Do We Fall Ill
- Gravitation — no longer part of the current Class 9 chapter list
If you're using older notes, guides, or solved-question banks, these specific chapters may still appear in them. Time spent preparing removed content doesn't contribute to your current exam score — redirect it to the confirmed 13-chapter list above.
An Honest Note on Marks Distribution
⚠️ Why this section doesn't give you a precise unit-wise breakdown
The overall structure is well confirmed: 80 theory marks plus 20 internal assessment marks (Periodic Assessment, Practical Work, and Portfolio) for a 100-mark total. What isn't consistently confirmed is a precise, unit-wise marks breakdown specific to the new Exploration textbook — several marks tables found online, despite being labelled "2026-27," appear to describe the previous syllabus structure that predates this book, since they reference units and chapters (like "Food; Food Production") that no longer exist in the current 13-chapter list. Rather than present a precise-looking number that may not reflect the actual current paper, this guide flags what's genuinely well-supported: content related to Motion, Forces, and Work is widely and consistently cited as numerically intensive and high-weightage. Confirm the definitive current unit-wise breakdown with your school or the official CBSE syllabus PDF.
The New Advanced Level Track — Do You Need It?
From 2026–27, Science is offered at two levels, and this is genuinely new — it didn't exist in the old Class 9 Science structure.
Proficiency Level
Mandatory for every student
The standard Exploration-based course covered in this guide. Ensures baseline conceptual understanding across all four integrated disciplines.
Advanced Level
Entirely optional
Based on a separate textbook, Science at Advanced Level (Optional), aimed at students planning for competitive exams like JEE or NEET. Taken in addition to, not instead of, the mandatory Proficiency paper.
This same two-level system extends to Class 10 from the 2027–28 session. If your school hasn't opted into offering the Advanced track, or you haven't chosen it, this guide's focus on the core 13-chapter Proficiency syllabus is all you need.
How to Study an Integrated Textbook Without Losing Structure
Exploration deliberately weaves disciplines together rather than presenting them as separate sections — Biology opens the book, Physics and Chemistry chapters interleave in the middle, and Earth Science closes it. This integration is the whole point of the new design, but it can make revision feel disorganised if you don't build your own structure alongside it.
Tag every chapter by discipline as you study it — Physics, Chemistry, Biology, or Earth Science — even though the textbook doesn't separate them this way. This keeps your revision organised by subject type even as the book itself moves fluidly between them. Prioritise the numerically intensive chapters — Describing Motion, How Forces Affect Motion, Work-Energy-Simple Machines — with careful, step-by-step numerical practice, since these consistently demand the most preparation time. Treat conceptual Biology chapters like Cell, Tissues, and Reproduction with structured, point-based revision rather than long-paragraph memorisation — labelled diagrams matter as much as written explanation here.
A New Textbook Means Old Difficulty Assumptions No Longer Apply
Because Class 9 Science changed so significantly, previous assumptions about which chapters are "usually hard" don't transfer cleanly — several chapters are entirely new (Earth as a System, the reframed classification chapter), and the integrated structure itself is unfamiliar even to teachers still adapting to it.
What a Genelis weak area map looks like for Class 9 Science this term
Next session: Earth as a System (29%) — an entirely new chapter for everyone this year with limited existing practice material. Genelis builds this map automatically without relying on outdated syllabus assumptions.
Genelis is an AI-powered personalized learning platform built on Adaptive Personalized Intelligence. The Genelis learning system tracks your accuracy against the actual current 13-chapter Exploration syllabus, distinguishing genuinely new content from familiar territory. Every wrong answer is logged to your wrong-question notebook, tagged by chapter and discipline, and queued for reattempt.
Learn smarter. Practice deeper. Improve continuously.
Genelis combines Adaptive Personalized Intelligence, AI-generated notes, targeted practice, mock tests, analytics, and personalised revision to help students improve every study session.
Questions Students Commonly Ask
Quick answers to the most common questions related to this guide.
What is the new Class 9 Science textbook for 2026-27?
Exploration: Textbook of Science for Grade 9, published by NCERT in April 2026, replaces the previous combined Class 9 Science textbook entirely. It integrates Physics, Chemistry, and Biology with Earth Science for the first time at this grade level, across 13 chapters, developed under the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023. Any resource still based on the old textbook — which opened with chapters like Matter in Our Surroundings — is describing a discontinued edition.
Which chapters were removed from Class 9 Science for 2026-27?
Diversity in Living Organisms (as previously structured), Natural Resources, and Why Do We Fall Ill have been removed from the Class 9 Science syllabus as part of CBSE's rationalisation and the shift to the new Exploration textbook. Note that a related, newly reframed chapter on classification — Patterns in Life: Diversity and Classification — does still exist in the new book, but it is a different, reconceived chapter rather than a continuation of the old one. Gravitation has also moved out of the current Class 9 chapter list.
What is the Advanced Level in Class 9 Science, and do I need it?
From 2026-27, CBSE has introduced an optional Advanced Level in Science alongside the mandatory standard (Proficiency) course. It is based on a separate textbook, Science at Advanced Level (Optional), and is aimed at students planning to pursue competitive exams like JEE or NEET later on. It is entirely optional and additional — students appear for it in addition to, not instead of, the mandatory Proficiency-level Science paper. This system will extend to Class 10 from the 2027-28 session.
What is the exact marks distribution for Class 9 Science 2026-27?
The overall structure is confirmed: 80 theory marks plus 20 internal assessment marks (Periodic Assessment, Practical Work, Portfolio) for a 100-mark total. However, a precise, unit-wise marks breakdown specific to the new Exploration textbook was not consistently confirmed across the sources available at the time of writing — some marks tables found online appear to describe the previous, pre-rationalisation syllabus structure despite being labelled as current. Motion, Force and Work-related content is widely cited as a high-weightage, numerically intensive area, but students should confirm the definitive current unit-wise weightage with their school or the official CBSE syllabus PDF.
How should I study Class 9 Science differently now that it's an integrated subject?
Even though Exploration weaves Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Earth Science together thematically rather than presenting them as separate sections, it still helps to tag each chapter by discipline as you study it, so your revision stays organised even though the textbook doesn't separate them that way. Prioritise chapters involving numerical work — Motion, Forces, Work and Energy — with careful step-by-step practice, and treat conceptual Biology chapters like Cell, Tissues, and Reproduction with structured, point-based revision rather than long-paragraph memorisation.